


Where Are You Now?

by Beckyjanestylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-08
Packaged: 2017-12-31 21:53:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beckyjanestylinson/pseuds/Beckyjanestylinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's a popstar. Louis' not. Their friendship's not what it used to be. Maybe it's best to listen to the full story sometimes.</p><p>“What’s Harry Styles got to do with anything anyway?” Niall asked, features contorted into a confused frown.<br/>“Harry Styles has got a lot to do with everything” Louis told him miserably.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Are You Now?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy reading this :)   
> Title after Union J's song Where Are You Now
> 
> My tumblr is sty-leeds-on.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you for any feedback <3

“Niall, give me back the remote! No one wants to watch football all day” Louis complained, grappling with the grinning Irishman in a vain attempt to gain possession of the remote.

“You mean you don’t want to watch football” Niall replied. “There are other people here ya know. Li, Zayn wha- ” he broke off with a sigh when he realised that Zayn and Liam didn’t particularly care; they were too busy making out.

Louis used the distraction to pluck the remote from Niall’s grasp, laughing when he saw the look of dismay on his face. Louis knew that even if Niall hadn’t been distracted, he would have given Louis the remote. Everyone always gave in to Louis nowadays, out of pity. Sometimes, it was quite convenient, but a lot of the time it was quite irritating and   
made him feel like an outcast; different from everybody else. 

He idly flicked through the channels, settling on some gameshow on ITV. He wasn’t particularly interested, but it beat constant football. He didn’t exactly hate football, it’s just that he hadn’t played in a good few years, and he’d kind of lost the feel for the game. Besides, everything got tiring when you’d been watching it non-stop for three hours.  
He and Niall watched the show for a bit, squabbling over random things and teasing Liam and Zayn when they got bored. Eventually the show drew to a close and the credits rolled, but the TV remote had slipped underneath the sofa and no one could be bothered to retrieve it, and so they simply continued watching the same side.  
It turned out the next programme was the local news. The first headline wasn’t of particular interest; it was about a fire that had broken out a few towns away. Louis began throwing crisps at Niall to pass the time as the news reporter droned on in a monotone. However, when they moved on to the next headline, he froze mid-throw, letting the crisp drop down onto his tight red jeans. 

A woman reporter had taken over now, and was relaying the information in a decidedly chirpier voice. Louis didn’t know why she was so happy. “It has been confirmed that when teenage pop sensation Harry Styles finishes his tour this Saturday, he will be returning to his home town of Cheshire, instead of staying in his new London flat as was rumoured. The singer will stay there for the foreseeable future during his break from his recent hectic schedule. In an interview, Styles said about the subject ‘I don’t know why I’d stay in London and spend even more time away from my family. I’ve missed them loads while on tour, and my London flat is simply for convenience when I’m recording or whatever. It will be nice to see them again, and hopefully catch up with some old friends.’ Styles will perform one gig at the town’s arena on Saturday as his final show of the tour. It is expected he will be greeted with a warm welcome, and the people of Cheshire are already planning for his arrival.”

By the end of the report, even Zayn and Liam had broken apart, matching expressions of horror on their faces. Louis was struggling not to cry, biting his bottom lip so hard he could taste blood and hands clenched into fists at his sides. Niall, the newest member of their friendship group, was looking on in confusion.

“Maybe we should change channel” Liam said, reaching to get the remote.

“Well it’s no use now, the report’s over!” Louis snapped back. It wasn’t Liam’s fault, but any mention of Harry always got Louis riled up. That’s why people tried their hardest not to mention him anymore.

“Lou, you can’t have a breakdown every time his name is mentioned. You’ve got to move on with your life, no offence” Zayn cajoled, hugging Liam in an attempt to soothe his boyfriend’s hurt feelings.

“What’s Harry Styles got to do with anything anyway?” Niall asked before Louis could reply, features contorted into a confused frown. He’d come to Cheshire just after Harry left to record his album, so had never met him personally. Louis had just moved out of his mum’s house, seeking some much needed independence and had been looking for a flatmate. Niall had fit the bill, moved in, and slotted into Louis’ group of friends effortlessly.

“Harry Styles has got a lot to do with everything” Louis told him miserably, before drawing his knees to his chest and pushing his face into them.

“Well, he used to be one of our closest friends” Liam explained. “He and Louis – ”

“Wait, you know Harry Styles?!” Niall interrupted, awestruck. 

“Yes, keep up” Louis mumbled into his knees, still in a bad mood.

“Yeah, we know him alright. Well, knew. Louis more than any of us. He and Harry, they were, uh, like, best friends?” Liam said awkwardly, the last word coming out as a question.

“Just say it, Niall can know” Louis said. 

“Well, Louis really liked Harry, you know, as more than just a friend. We were all friends since we were in nappies, and as he grew up he realised he fancied him. But because they were so close, it was awkward, and he didn’t really know how to tell Harry” Zayn continued.

“You make it sound so sweet. It was hell” Louis moaned, raising his face from his knees slightly.

“Whatever, just let us tell the story” Zayn said, used to Louis’ bitchiness. “It wasn’t until a few years ago that it started to seem like Harry felt the same. They were getting closer than ever – and they were already scarily close. Then right on Louis’ 17th birthday, Harry kissed him. Louis wouldn’t stop going on about it to us, he was so excited. That was like, 2011, right Lou?”

Louis nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“Yeah, they kissed again at new year’s, and again on Harry’s birthday. But neither spoke about it, and they never did anything more. Then, well, you know what happened in spring last year, we don’t need to go over that, right?” Liam checked.

Niall nodded and Louis sighed. He was tired of everyone edging around the subject of that time. As if his feelings for Harry hadn’t been confusing enough, then that had gone and happened to him. Fate was cruel. He couldn’t be bothered to complain so let them continue. There wasn’t any need to go into detail about it anyway; Niall knew all about that, and had helped Louis through some of it.

“Well Louis withdrew a bit, didn’t tell us or Harry – only told me and Li after Harry left, when things weren’t so bad for him, which we totally understand. We stuck around, Harry didn’t. He buggered off to xFactor, didn’t bother contacting us and didn’t reply to any of Louis’ texts. Li and I both sent him rather explicit texts stating exactly what we thought of him, but he hasn’t acknowledged them. Just because he’s famous he thinks he doesn’t need to associate with the likes of us commoners anymore. So all that bullshit about meeting up with old friends is him talking out his ass. He doesn’t even know any of what happened to Louis, because Louis never got the chance to tell him” Zayn finished viciously.

“Fucking hell” Niall looked at Louis with wide eyes, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “Sorry mate. He always seemed so nice in the papers – apart from being a bit of a manwhore – but he’s just a total dick.”

“Whatever, I’m going to my room” Louis said, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him. He heard the others’ muted talking from the front room but couldn’t decipher the words. He didn’t care anyway; they could gossip all they liked. He took off his beanie and angrily threw it across the room. 

Louis then proceeded to collapse onto his bed, sobbing into his pillow and letting his tears soak through it. His life was utter crap right now, so it seemed. When all his energy was worn out, he felt himself drifting to sleep, tears still fresh on his cheeks.

It was Monday today. That meant five days; he had five days until he could potentially come face to face with someone who he wished could stay in his past.

*

Louis passed through the rest of the week in a daze. Tuesday he stayed in bed all day; Niall bringing him food and drink when he got home from college, but having the sense to leave him alone other than that.

Wednesday he surfaced to go shopping and then to Zayn and Liam’s. Niall turned up after college and the four of them went out to some club where Louis proceeded to get completely wasted. He vaguely remembered Zayn telling him he’d had enough, and Liam asking him if it was a good idea to drink so much while he was still on his meds. Louis had ignored them and had been dragged home by an almost as drunk Niall, both of them collapsing on top of each other on the sofa.

Thursday morning he woke up with his head thumping, and begged Niall to get him a glass of water and some aspirin. Dealing with the hangover from hell, he wondered why he’d ever thought it had been a good idea to get so drunk the previous night. At least he’d forgotten about Harry for a few hours, although as Liam had tried to warn him, it probably wouldn’t react well to the cocktail of meds he was taking daily. He was just thankful that he hadn’t hooked up with some random guy and snuck off to exchange crappy hand jobs in the bathrooms. He knew if he’d done that he would have ended up hating himself. Like it or not, there was only one person his heart belonged to, even now. By the end of the day, he was feeling mostly like himself, although he ended up going to bed at 8 and promptly falling into a deep sleep.

Friday he woke up feeling much better, and decided to pay his mum a visit. He hadn’t seen her in a few weeks, and she always worried about him an unnecessary amount. It was a pity his sisters would be at school, as he would have liked to have seen them too, but at least he and his mum would have time for some “adult” talk.  
He knocked on the door, and it seemed like his mum wasn’t going to answer. Louis always marvelled at the amount of time it took her to get from any given room to the door. Finally, she flung it open and, upon seeing who it was, engulfed her son in a hug so tight he could barely breathe. When she was satisfied that she had hugged him long and hard enough, Jay ushered him in, offering all manner of snacks which he declined. He never had much of an appetite.

Louis asked about the girl’s school results, Lottie’s boyfriend, Jay and Dan’s work, anything to get Jay talking. She answered all of his questions fully and in detail, but he could tell that there was something she needed to say and was unwilling to let go.

Finally, he could think of no more topics to delay her further. “Mum, just spit it out” he said resignedly, absentmindedly adjusting his beanie so it sat further down on his head.

“Well, I heard Harry’s coming back home” she began warily, knowing her son was temperamental about his old best friend.

“Yeah, how lovely” he said, trying to keep most of the anger from his voice.

“What are you going to, um, like, I mean, have you thought about speaking to him?” she asked awkwardly.

“Why would I do that?” Louis asked incredulously.

“Well, maybe hear his side of things? He was always a good lad, it doesn’t seem like him...”

“Mum, there’s no point. I don’t want Harry back in my life, he probably doesn’t want me in his. It’s better that way. Can we just leave it now?”  
His mum agreed and hurriedly changed the subject, not wanting to upset Louis further. 

When it neared three o’clock, Louis suddenly remembered his sisters.

“Don’t you have to pick the girls up from school?” he asked.

“Mark’s got them today” Jay replied. “Well, the twins and Felcite. Lottie’s catching the bus home here so she can get ready to go cinema with her boyfriend later.”

“She’s so grown up now” Louis commented, feeling a bit nostalgic. “I think I’ll stay, talk to her for a bit.”

Jay agreed happily, eager for her son to stay as long as possible. They chatted for a bit longer until they heard the door bang and Lottie came into the front room, complaining about the amount of homework she was getting. She broke off when she saw Louis, and he pulled her into a hug.

The siblings exchanged greetings and Louis teased her about her boyfriend. 

The conversation lulled for a bit until Lottie suddenly remembered something. “Hey Lou, Harry’s coming here tomorrow, right? I can’t wait! Seeing as you were so close, do you think you could get us front row tickets?”

Louis shifted uncomfortably. His sisters didn’t know the ins and outs of what went on between Harry and Louis, but they knew it was a forbidden subject. “Charlotte” Jay warned sharply, and Louis shot her a grateful look.

“I was only asking” Lottie grumbled, but obligingly proceeded to talk about something else.

*

Saturday finally arrived, the day Louis had been dreading. He had work at a small coffee shop close to the centre of town and was thankful that his mind would be occupied for some of the day. He got ready as usual, forcing himself to act like this was a normal day, when in reality it was so much more.

He tried to act bright and bubbly around the customers, anything so as not to come across as the depressed freak who shouldn’t be working with the public due to their fucked up mental state. He probably overcompensated – he caught a few customers throwing him some weird looks, but ignored them. He didn’t need anything getting him down right now.  
His shift was about to end, and Louis was amazed that he’d managed to go the whole day without a break down. He took off his apron and threw it in the washing machine, before heading towards the door. At the very last minute, he felt someone snag his sleeve and turned around to see his co-worker, Ashton, grinning at him.

“You heard of Harry Styles, right?” he asked, and Louis narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Haven’t we all?” he countered, trying to appear nonchalant.

“Yeah, well, a mate of mine managed to get me front row tickets for his concert. Didn’t even charge me!”

“That’s great Ash, but I really gotta go” Louis said impatiently.

“But Lou, what I’m trying to say is, do you wanna come?”

Louis almost choked, brain rapidly trying to come up with an excuse that seemed genuine. “Don’t you wanna take Luke or somebody?” he asked.

“Well I got five tickets, so Luke and Michael are coming already. Calum can’t make it, so there’s two spare tickets that you can have. Invite a friend.”

“I dunno, thanks for the offer, but I was planning on having a quiet night in tonight” Louis lied.

“C’mon Lou! You look like you need a night out. Besides, not many big artists perform here, so it’s set to be a massive gig. I know you can appreciate a fit celeb like Harry as much as the next guy, so what’s there to lose?”

Louis had a lot to lose actually, but chose not to say. Ashton seemed overly enthusiastic about the concert, and Louis hated letting people down. Before he knew what he was doing, he found himself agreeing and arranging where to meet. Well shit, there was no way out now.

*

So that was how, when Niall got home from doing whatever he did in his spare time, he found Louis collapsed on his bed amongst a pile of outfits, completely freaking out. 

“Um, did I miss something?” he asked, letting a touch of amusement colour his tone.

Louis looked up at him miserably. “You’re coming out with me tonight” he said bluntly, without explanation.

“Um, okay then. Can I ask where? And why are you such a state?”

“Ashton’s making me go to this dumb gig that Harry’s doing. He’s given me two tickets, so you’re coming too. Catch me if I faint or whatever” Louis’ tone was grim and Niall flopped down on the bed beside him, looping an arm around his shoulders.

“Aw Lou. You don’t have to go you know, just pull a sickie.”

“But I hate letting people down” Louis groaned. “And, like, I hate myself for thinking this, but I just want to see Harry again after all this time. Not speak to him or anything, just see if fame’s changed him, whether he’s still the guy I used to know.”

“Okay, well if you’re sure you can face going” Niall replied hesitantly. “And I assume all this mess” he gestured to the piles of clothes surrounding them on the bed “is because you’re panicking about what to wear?”

Louis nodded dejectedly. “I know it’s silly because he probably won’t notice me or even remember me. But I can’t go to his concert looking like a pile of crap. I just want him to feel something, maybe just regret cutting contact with me. I know I did it first, but I was stressed out with everything that was happening, I didn’t mean it to be permanent.”

“Lou, it’s okay, I get it” Niall soothed. He was hesitant about advising Louis on the subject of Harry, as he hadn’t been there and knew how touchy Louis was about it, so decided to leave it for now. “Let’s just look through your outfit choices, yeah?”

It was a good job Niall was extremely patient, for most people would have grown frustrated with Louis; he managed to find a bad point of every single outfit suggested. Niall reasoned with him and eventually coaxed him into a loose grey woollen jumper and black skinny jeans which Niall insisted showed off his bum perfectly. 

“I won’t even have my ass to the stage, he’ll just see the front of me!” Louis protested but Niall assured him that making sure his bum looked good was still important.  
Niall disappeared to get ready once Louis was dressed, and Louis chose a light grey beanie which matched the jumper, and some TOMs to go with his outfit. He pulled the items on, then headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth, checking himself in the mirror as he did so. He didn’t look bad, he supposed; his outfit looked good on him (he made a mental note to buy Niall Nando’s later as a thank you present), his skin was quite tanned even in October and he had his contacts in instead of glasses.

He checked his watch, seeing they had half an hour until they had to meet Ashton and the others. “Niall!” he hollered up the stairs.

He heard a thump, and then a curse of “Oh shit” followed by “Be down in a second!”

Niall appeared at the bottom of the stairs, smirking sheepishly. “What did you break?” Louis sighed.

“Uh, let’s just say you owe me a new iPhone screen” Niall replied.

“You dropped your iPhone again?! And how is that my fault?”

“You were rushing me!”

“We have less than half an hour to go meet Ashton!” Louis exclaimed.

“You never normally care about being on time” Niall complained, but held his hands up in surrender when Louis thumped him on the arm. “Okay, okay, let’s go.”

They were walking, as Louis knew parking would be difficult and it wasn’t that far to go anyway. He tried his best to disguise his nerves, but his efforts must have been futile as Niall asked him several times if he was sure he was okay. Louis was determined to make it to the concert though, and forced himself to believe that everything would be fine.  
Soon enough, they arrived at the place where they were meeting the others, who were already there. They exchanged greetings before heading to the venue, wanting to avoid most of the queues. However, when they got there, the arena was heaving. It was mainly teenage girls, eager to get their hands on t-shirts or bags or whatever with Harry’s face all   
over them, but there were also boys and older people, wanting to see the local superstar, their town’s claim to fame. 

It was strange to see everybody making such a big deal over his old friend. This was Harry, the same boy he’d seen crying when he broke his leg at six years old, comforted when his dog died, who’d comforted Louis when his parents divorced. He’d witnessed Harry going through all the awkward stages of puberty, he’d seen him laugh and he’d seen him cry, heck, he’d even seen him naked! And now everybody was making such a big fuss about him, clamouring to see him. It was just weird, to think that now Harry was known all over the world, he was a big deal. Of course, Louis had seen magazines with Harry on, seen him on TV, so knew how famous he was, but he’d tried to avoid them as much as possible, so it only really hit him now, seeing all these people gathered to hear Harry sing.

Louis had heard Harry sing on many an occasion. He was pretty good; well obviously, or he wouldn’t have been such a success. They’d mucked around doing karaoke duets plenty of times, but this was nothing like that. Now, Harry was singing alone, probably had had a load of vocal training and sounded completely different than he used to.   
After a while of waiting, they were let into their seats, front row as Ashton had promised. They were very close to the stage, a little too close for Louis’ liking if he was honest. But he was here to have a good time, he reminded himself, and he wouldn’t let his past with Harry stop him.

Harry’s support act were Union J and they were on first. They weren’t too bad, although Louis only knew one song; their single Carry You. Some people said that one of their members, George, resembled Harry, but Louis saw no similarities whatsoever. In his mind, George would never compare to Harry. He just wasn’t on the same level of attractiveness, and never would be. He wasn’t ugly, just not, well, Harry.

When they’d finished their set, they thanked the audience and went offstage. Louis sat in agitated silence while he waited for the stage to be set up and Harry to appear.  
When he did, Louis had to sit back down in shock (like the rest of the crowd, he’d been standing whilst Union J performed). Harry wasn’t the gangly sixteen year old he remembered. He was only a year older now, but it seemed a year could change a lot. He’d got taller, his shoulders had broadened, and Louis was sure he could see the hint of muscles beneath his hipster clothing (at least some things never changed). His curls that Louis had loved to run his hands through were now shorter, revealing more of his face. From where Louis was sat, he could see a few tattoos peeking out from beneath his sleeves, but couldn’t make out what they were. Harry looked older, there were prominent dark circles under his eyes, and although he was smiling, Louis knew it wasn’t genuine, it wasn’t the one Harry used when he was properly happy. His dimples weren’t denting his cheeks and his eyes weren’t shining like Louis knew they could. Overall though, Harry was still as attractive as ever, if not more, and Louis felt his knees go weak and an uncomfortable fluttering in his stomach now he was seeing him again.

His opening song was one that Louis had never heard before. It wasn’t bad, he guessed, but it wasn’t the genre that he or Harry had been into. It didn’t sound like something Harry would choose to sing, he didn’t sound passionate about the lyrics leaving his mouth. 

To be honest, Louis didn’t know any of Harry’s songs properly. He’d heard a couple of his hits on the radio, but had quickly turned them off. Thankfully, none of his friends seemed to know the words either, and all four of them were simply cheering and shouting random encouragements. Louis tried to have fun, but with Harry right there he just couldn’t focus. It was all too real, and seeing him again brought back memories of them kissing, and then Harry not replying to him, ignoring Louis like he didn’t even exist.  
So while his mates were having a good time, Louis shrank further into his seat, trying to work out how long it would be until the concert ended. Niall was aware of his uncomfort, and squeezed his shoulder a couple of times, trying to reassure him, but the other three remained oblivious.

After the first four songs, Louis began to relax. The music wasn’t bad, and everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves. Harry had always loved singing, and watching him doing what he’d dreamed of made Louis feel proud, even if Harry had been a dick to him. 

Harry was singing a slower song (Louis vaguely remembered hearing it introduced on the radio as Little Things) and the crowd seemed to love it, waving glow sticks, cameras and phones about. The lyrics were probably supposed to be sweet, but to Louis it just seemed as though they were calling people fat. He hoped Harry hadn’t written them himself; he knew from personal experience that Harry could do much better.

During the other songs, Harry had been running and jumping around, never staying in one spot for too long. However, now that the tempo of the song had switched, Harry had also slowed down. To Louis’ dismay, Harry decided that his side of the stage would be a good spot to sit during the rest of the song.

Louis knew when Harry saw him. It would have been hard not to realise really. It was nearing the end of the song, Harry’s eyes were scanning the crowd, waving occasionally and earning a bunch of screams from girls convinced he’d been waving to them specifically.

He was singing the line “You’ll never love yourself half as much as I love you”, eyes getting uncomfortably near to where Louis and his friends were. Louis was about to tug on Niall’s sleeve and tell him he was going to the toilet, unable to stand anymore. But then Harry’s eyes landed on him, locked with his own. Blue met green and Louis was unable to look away. Harry looked utterly stricken, and faltered on the line so that he was a beat late and his voice cracked on the second ‘love’.

Niall tensed beside him and Louis knew that he’d realised what had happened too and knew why Harry had stumbled. He bent down and whispered “Do you wanna leave?”

Louis shook his head. Now Harry had seen him, he was determined to stick it out for the rest of the concert, he couldn’t let Harry think he was weak.

After his momentary stumble, Harry had quickly recovered and finished the song, moving away from Louis’ side of the stage to interact with the audience a little.

Harry continued with the rest of the concert as though nothing had happened, although he avoided Louis’ area as much as possible. Louis remained silent in his seat, choosing to look at Harry’s band instead of the singer himself. 

*

When Louis got home, he found that videos of Harry’s falter had already been uploaded on literally every social media site. People were questioning why it had happened, some people criticising Harry which Louis thought was a little harsh. Singers were allowed to be imperfect sometimes; they were only people, not some kind of superior race. He even saw one newspaper claim Harry had seen a girl he fancied in the front row and had stumbled due to being ‘captured by her beauty’ which was utter bullshit.  
In the morning, he found he had new texts from Liam and Zayn, checking up on him. 

From: Liam  
I was just checkin up on youuuu becoz niall said about what hapened last niiiiight and I was worried. Hope your ok now remember you are better than hiiiiim

From: Zayn  
Li said I should try and get hold of you coz you were pretty shaken up about what happened at the concert. He’s a bastard Lou forget him

Louis replied to both with a simple “I’m fine it just shocked me” hoping that they would let it go. Knowing Liam, he wouldn’t be satisfied and would come around later, but there wasn’t much Louis could do about that.

When Niall woke up, Louis coaxed him into having a movie marathon with him. Niall agreed without much persuasion; doing nothing always sounded appealing to him. They dragged their duvets into the front room and Niall was just about to put on the first movie when Louis stopped him.

“Do you know what would make this even better?” Louis asked.

“What?”

“Ice cream” Louis said decidedly.

“But we haven’t got any ice cream” Niall told him.

“I know. I was hoping you would go to the shops for me” Louis gave the other boy his best puppy dog eyes.

“Lou, why can’t you go?” Niall whined.

“Because you’re already dressed! I’m only in my boxers” Louis reasoned, gesturing to the beanie and boxers attire he was currently wearing.

“Fine” Niall sighed, giving into him as usual.

“Love you! Get Ben and Jerry’s!”

“Is there any other brand of ice cream?”

Louis decided to start the first movie without Niall, because he was bored and impatient. The opening credits had just rolled when there came a knock at the door.

Assuming it would be Liam and/or Zayn and being too lazy to open the door, Louis yelled “Come in, it’s open!” Niall forever complained about him doing that, insisting that one day he could inadvertently let a serial killer into the house, to which Louis’ response was “Why would a serial killer knock?”

Louis heard footsteps, and called “Liam, I’m fine, he didn’t upset me that much! Harry’s a dick, I’ll get over it.”

The footsteps stopped, and a gravelly voice said “Oh, so I’m the dick?”

Louis looked up at the person, jaw dropping. He’d definitely learnt his lesson about inviting people in without checking who they were now. His mind vaguely registered that he was still only in his boxers, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about that now. It didn’t seem to be bothering Harry and it was nothing he hadn’t seen before anyway. He tried desperately to think of something to say, but all that came was “How did you know where I live?”

“I, um” Harry ran a hand through his curls nervously. “I asked your mum. I really needed to see you.”

“I’m gonna kill her!” Louis growled, angry at being betrayed by his own mum. “Well you’ve seen me, can you please leave now? I’m trying to watch Peter Pan.” He gestured to the cartoon playing on screen.

“Lou, you’ve seen that millions of times before.”

“Well maybe if you’d wanted to rank higher on my list of priorities than Peter Pan, you could have answered my texts.”

“Don’t blame this on me Louis. You were the one who cut contact for months. I just continued what you’d started. You seriously didn’t expect me to come running simply because you’d decided your little game of giving me the silent treatment was over? I don’t think you could’ve hurt me more if you’d tried.”

That last sentence made Louis pause. When he’d stopped talking to Harry, he’d thought it was for the best. He’d been trying to protect Harry, give him a chance to do what he wanted. He hadn’t considered that Harry could get hurt. 

“You don’t know why I ignored you though” he protested weakly.

“I don’t want to hear it. It’s probably no excuse for blanking me. You were my best friend Lou, we could’ve even been something more. At first, I came round to yours every day, trying to see you, but Jay said you weren’t home.”

“I wasn’t home” Louis said truthfully.

“You still could have answered my texts, given me an explanation, let me come and see you wherever you were. It took me months to get over you ignoring me, and then you decide to text me again as if nothing had happened, still not offering any explanation.”

“I would have explained, I still can” Louis said, but Harry cut him off.

“I said I don’t want to hear it. I’m not interested in your pathetic excuses. I came here hoping we could forget about the past, but obviously you’re still the same stubborn little bitch you always were.”

Louis gasped as Harry’s words hit him like they were physical attacks. It was at this point that Niall chose to walk in, tubs of ice cream in hand. He took a step back when he realised that Harry Styles was in his living room, but quickly recovered and made his way to stand protectively beside Louis, gently rubbing his back.

“Is this your boyfriend?” Harry spat.

“This is Niall, he’s my straight flatmate and we’re both happily single” Louis told him. “Even if he was my boyfriend, you have no right to be jealous. You were the one who kissed me and then ditched me.”

“Oh, I’m such a bad person, nothing’s ever your fault” Harry said angrily before stalking out, slamming the door behind him with an impressive amount of force.

“Are you okay?” Niall asked softly, one hand still rubbing small circles into Louis’ back.

“Yeah, I’m fine” Louis said, before promptly collapsing onto the sofa and bursting into tears.

“Here, ice cream makes everything better” Niall said, handing him a tub and dashing to the kitchen for some spoons.

When he returned, he let Louis sob on his shoulder, and both of them called Harry all the insults they could think of while demolishing their ice creams.

*

Louis spent Monday and Tuesday in a dazed stupor, not doing a lot in the way of productivity. Liam and Zayn came around and he had another bitch fest with them, but they didn’t let him get drunk this time.

On Wednesday, Ashton called him. He asked how he was, saying that he’d seemed a little quiet at the concert and he wanted to make sure everything was okay. Louis assured him that he was fine, had just been feeling a little tired and ill. To his relief, Ashton bought the excuse. Once he knew that Louis was fine, he explained that he was supposed to be working that afternoon, but was busy. Louis could hear his sheepish smile even though he couldn’t see it, and wearily agreed to cover the shift for him. He didn’t mind too much; at least he could hopefully be distracted from thoughts of Harry. 

In the afternoon he got ready for work, sighing as he pulled on the dull uniform. In the morning, the shop was relatively busy, and he chatted to his workmate Cara when there was a lull in customers. To his annoyance, all she seemed to want to talk about was Harry. She’d been at the gig on Saturday too, and she kept going on and on about how weird it was for Harry to have messed up. Louis was just about to snap at her and ask to change the subject, when she cut off mid-sentence, staring straight past Louis, towards the door of the shop.

Louis spun around, trying to work out what caused Cara to break off her rambling. His eyes landed on a figure standing awkwardly in the doorway and he inwardly cursed. Why did Harry have to come here, of all places? Couldn’t he have gone to the more popular Starbucks down the street?

Cara had apparently begun fangirling, leaving Louis to deal with Harry as he approached the counter. “It’s you” is all Louis said as he came face to face with the curly haired boy.

“I could say the same” replied Harry, unperturbed by Louis’ hostility.

“Louis” Cara hissed “that’s Harry Styles, you can’t just act like that towards him.”

“I can act how I want” Louis replied bluntly. “Would you care to serve him instead?”

“No!” Cara practically yelled. “I wouldn’t mind a picture though.”

Harry looked on, amused. “Just let me get my coffee, then I’ll be happy to have a picture with you.” 

Cara ran off to the back, probably to fix her hair and makeup or something, and Harry turned towards Louis. “I believe you know how I take my coffee” he said coolly, and Louis nodded shortly.

He set about making Harry’s coffee whilst the other boy leaned against the counter, tapping his fingers in an irritating tune that Louis vaguely recognised as belonging to one of his songs.

When the coffee was ready, he slammed it down a little harder than necessary on the counter, before turning to the till and ringing up the price. Harry handed him the cash and   
Louis gave him the change. Instead of finding a table, Harry stayed leaning against the table, smirking smugly.

“So I guess maybe I was a little harsh the other day, not letting you explain why you ignored me all that time ago” Harry began.

Louis just raised an eyebrow, grabbing a cloth and wiping down the already spotless counter.

“Care to explain now?” Harry asked, presenting it like a challenge.

“I don’t think it’s really the sort of conversation you can have over the counter of a coffee shop” Louis replied, not meeting Harry’s eyes.

“Either that or you don’t actually have a genuine reason” Harry scoffed.

“I know we might not be on the best of terms with each other, but you really think I’d lie to you? You still used to be my best friend, I’m not going to make up some stupid excuse” Louis said, hurt evident in his voice.

“Okay, one chance. Tomorrow I’ve got a family thing, but meet me on Friday. Explain to me then, and it better be good. If not, we’re done” Harry offered.

“Who says I want to make up with you?” Louis muttered, but there was no feeling behind the words.  
“Friday, I’ll be at yours at half eleven” Harry replied evenly. 

Louis nodded curtly, going to turn away before Harry stopped him.

“By the way, is wearing a beanie new fashion or something? Every time I’ve seen you you’ve been wearing one. Your hair’s much nicer in my opinion” Harry said, gesturing to the woolly item on Louis’ head.

Louis flushed and quickly headed to the back, not giving Harry a reply. He blinked back tears, but refused to let them fall. He found Cara, assumingly on her way to get a photo with Harry.

“Hey Cara, can I go home? I’ve suddenly come over a bit queasy” he lied.

She eyed him suspiciously but agreed nonetheless. “Okay, Eleanor’s supposed to be coming in soon anyway. Is Harry still out there?”

Louis nodded, quickly shrugging off his apron before exiting the shop through the back door, unable to face Harry right now.

*

Louis spent all of Thursday panicking to Niall. He’d begged him to stay home from college, insisting he needed moral support. Niall did his best, but advice was more Liam’s forte, not his. Louis went through the details of what could go wrong numerous amounts of times, Niall repeating himself over and over again. Louis simply wouldn’t allow himself to be convinced that everything was going to be fine, couldn’t see how he and Harry could go back to how they used to be.

Niall decided it was probably a good idea to pick Louis’ outfit now, rather than leaving him to start panicking in the morning right when Harry was due to arrive. They settled on the same black skinny jeans he’d worn to the concert, along with a light blue button up shirt. Niall laid the clothes out on Louis’ desk chair, and then plucked a grey beanie from Louis’ extensive collection, laying it down on top of the pile. 

Louis sniffed a bit, telling Niall about Harry’s insensitive comment regarding his beanies. Niall hugged him and assured him it was simply because Harry didn’t understand and that his beanies were fine.

After they’d gone through everything that could go wrong another fifty times, Louis announced he was going to have a shower and then get an early night, as he had a feeling the next day would be exhausting. Niall was only too happy to agree.

*

Louis was up at eight the next morning, a miracle for him. He persuaded Niall to cook bacon and eggs for them both, and then the Irishman left for college. Louis paced his room anxiously, biting his nails despite his vain attempts to be calm. He went and took a shower, for much longer than necessary, and then brushed his teeth, making sure to drag it out as long as humanly possible.

When he went back into his room it was still only half past nine, meaning he had two hours until Harry arrived. He decided to get dressed anyway, pulling on the outfit they’d decided upon the previous night, and then taking out his contact lens pot. He hated wearing his glasses as he didn’t feel they suited him, but he was usually too lazy to put his contact lenses in on regular days. He shuddered as the cool film came into contact with his eye, blinking a few times so it settled into place. When they were both in, he tugged on his beanie, trying to ignore Harry’s comments resounding in his head. He would’ve just gone without the beanie, but that wasn’t really an option.

He checked himself over in the mirror and then pulled out his phone, checking the time. He still had just under an hour and a half, providing Harry was on time, which Louis desperately hoped he would be.

To pass the time, Louis played a few games of Candy Crush, passing a few levels before he ran out of lives. By then, he only had quarter of an hour left, so tidied up the front room a little.

Finally came the knock on the door which he’d been both anticipating and dreading. He went to answer the door instead of calling for Harry to let himself in, because it just seemed like the right thing to do.

He put his hand on the door handle and hesitated, as if delaying would make any of it easier. With a gulp, Louis pressed down on the handle, swinging the door open slowly. Harry looked a little nervous, surprisingly, as he walked in and kicked off his shoes before following Louis as he awkwardly trailed back to the living room. 

Harry took a seat on the sofa opposite Louis, obviously intent on keeping his distance.

“So, uh, how’s fame?” Louis asked awkwardly, trying and failing to meet Harry’s intense gaze.

“Alright. Lonely” Harry answered shortly. “Don’t think you’re getting away with this Louis. I’m here to find out your excuse, and I plan on staying here until you tell me. I think it’d be easier for the both of us if you cut to the chase already, unless you have a particular desire to exchange pleasantries.”

“Well” Louis began, trying to stall, but giving up. “Okay, please forgive me if I break down crying, but this isn’t exactly easy for me to tell.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, probably assuming Louis was exaggerating and being overdramatic as usual.

“Remember when we were friends I’d keep getting those really bad headaches, I think I complained to you about them a few times?”

“Yeah?” Harry replied questioningly.

“Uh, they got more frequent, literally got so bad that whenever I had one I couldn’t move. And then I found bruises on my arms and legs for no apparent reason. Mum got really worried, rushed me to the hospital and, um...” Louis trailed off, unable to say the next words.

“And what, Lou?” Harry asked gently, guessing and dreading what was coming next.

“I was diagnosed with leukaemia. At one point it looked really bad, they told my parents to prepare for the worst, gave me six months to live. I was so scared – when I managed to stay awake that was. Mostly I slept. That’s why I wasn’t home, I was at the hospital.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you were talking about auditioning for xFactor, and you were so excited. I knew if you knew how bad I was, then you wouldn’t have gone. I wanted to give you the chance to have a good life, even if I couldn’t. You deserved to achieve your dreams Haz.”

By this point there were tears rolling down Louis’ cheeks and Harry had to choke back a sob.

“Your health would have been more important. I wouldn’t have cared about missing my audition, as long as you were okay. I almost didn’t go anyway, because I was still a state from the shock of you cutting me out.”

“Yeah, well. I overcame the leukaemia, some of my doctors called it a miracle. It looked like it wasn’t shrinking, but then it suddenly started going, until there was none of it left. When I knew there was a good chance of me being okay, I was going to tell you. But you’d already gone. That’s why I started texting you, so I could explain. But you didn’t answer, and I never got the chance” Louis said sadly.

“Fuck, I deserve you calling me a dick. I deserve worse than that” Harry exclaimed, angry at himself for not being there.

Louis neither agreed nor disagreed. “I’m not gonna lie, I could have done with your support. I was still pretty bad, even then, still needed a load of chemo to make sure it didn’t come back. I told Zayn and Liam, and they helped me, held my hands when I was having injections. But their hands don’t fit mine as well as yours do.”

The last sentence broke Harry’s barriers and he found himself giving in to his tears, rushing to Louis and scooping him against his chest while they both cried.

When they’d calmed down a bit, Harry tilted Louis’ chin up a bit so he could see his face. “Tell me honestly Lou, how bad is it now?”

“Well I’ve been free for almost a year, but it doesn’t mean I’m in remission. There’s a 20% chance it could come back. I’m still recovering though.”

“Fuck, I should have been there when you were at your worst” Harry cursed.

“It’s done now Haz. You can still help me now. There are still signs I’ve had cancer, scars from operations and things and I’ll probably be on medication for the rest of my life. Oh, and my hair. That’s still growing back.”

Harry looked at Louis’ head and a look of horror dawned upon his face. “Shit! That’s why you wear the beanies!”

Louis nodded sadly. “Your comment just about broke my heart. I liked my hair too, but all I have now is baby tufts. So if it’s my hair you liked me for, I’m afraid you’ll have to be disappointed.”

His attempt at a joke fell flat by a long shot, and Harry seemed ready to burst into tears all over again. “No, fuck, I’m so sorry.”

Louis smiled thinly at him, silence falling over the pair before Harry looked at Louis hesitantly. “C-can I see it? Your hair I mean?”

“If you really want to” Louis said reluctantly, reaching up to tug off his beanie.

When it was off, he clutched it in his hands, so hard his knuckles turned white. He wasn’t used to many people seeing him without his beanie on. His mum had, obviously, and Niall too because they shared a flat. Louis’ sisters had never seen him without it, because they didn’t know the extent of his illness. Louis and his parents had wanted to protect them so they didn’t worry. Even Liam and Zayn had only seen him without his beanie a couple of times. He wasn’t exactly self conscious, it was just easier if the beanie was left on.  
He could feel Harry’s breath tickling his scalp and shivered. He had hair now, just not a lot of it. It was thinner and lighter than it used to be, and it would take a while until it covered his head properly. Harry’s hands gently caressed it, running a few locks through his fingers.

“You’re still beautiful” he said.

Louis didn’t reply, just pressing further into Harry’s chest. When Harry had been looking at his hair for a little while, Louis tugged the beanie back on self-consciously, gazing up at Harry tentatively.

“Now that you’ve explained, and I totally understand, what does this mean for us? Do you even like me after what a self-centred idiot I’ve been?” Harry asked.

“Of course I like you. It’s my fault as much as yours. But Harry, don’t take this the wrong way, but if I have to think of that right now I might burst into tears again. I’m not up for any more deep, emotional discussions. We do need to talk but just...can we do it another time?”

“Of course, sure, let me give you my number, text me when you feel ready” Harry said immediately.

Louis handed him his phone, and Harry quickly punched in his name and number before snapping a picture of himself for the caller ID. 

*

Niall got home a little while after Harry left and Louis quickly filled him in on what had happened. Niall was relieved that nothing had gone majorly wrong, commenting on how he’d said everything would be fine.

Louis asked what he thought he should do about talking to Harry and Niall chewed his lip thoughtfully. “Well you don’t want to leave it too long, right?”

Louis shook his head decidedly. “I’m working tomorrow though” he informed Niall.

“Well that might’ve been a little too soon anyway. Text him Sunday and see what he says. He’s probably just as nervous as you, you know.”

*

During his shift on Saturday, Louis’ mind wasn’t focused. He got two customers’ orders wrong and spilt one cup of coffee. It was lucky for him that his boss, Mary, wasn’t in or he would have been risking getting fired, which he couldn’t have dealt with on top of everything else right now. It was also lucky that Ashton was taking the shift with him instead of Eleanor or Cara, as they surely would have told on him. Ashton simply laughed a bit and made him clean up the mess. Harry didn’t make any appearances, probably wanting to give Louis his space.

*

On Sunday, Louis made himself wait until twelve before he even prepared to text Harry, not wanting to seem overeager. Besides, Harry was a popstar, he probably had a busy schedule.

Louis typed out three different drafts of the text before he was satisfied, and even made Niall read it over for him, even though they were both equally bad at English and Harry probably wouldn’t care about crappy spelling and grammar. Knowing Harry, he’d be over the moon that Louis had even contacted him, no matter what the text said. In the end, he decided something simple would do.

To: Haz  
I think I’m ready to talk now, sorry for messing you around...x

He’d deliberated about adding the kiss or not, but Niall had said he might as well, and in the end he figured why not? To his surprise, Harry’s reply came back within minutes.  
From: Haz

It’s fine Lou. If you’re sure you’re ready I can be there in half an hour?xx

Louis quickly typed back “Okay, please x” before he could talk himself out of it. 

“Niall!” he shouted in the direction of the kitchen, where the blonde boy had wandered off too. 

Niall appeared, bag of peanuts in hand. “Yeah?”

“Harry’s coming round, is that okay?”

“Sure, do you want me to disappear, go round to Zayn and Liam’s or something?”

“You don’t have to. Just stay in your room or something.”

“Sure. I still think it’s weird that you can act so natural around a celebrity.”

“It’s just Harry, Niall.”

“Still weird!”

*

As Harry had promised, he was knocking on the door within half an hour, and this time Louis called for him to let himself in.

He appeared in the living room doorway, looking between the sofa Louis was sat on and the one Niall was sprawled across. Eventually he decided to sit next to Louis, still sure to leave a fair gap. Harry nodded at Niall, and the Irishman waved cheerfully. 

“Sorry for being a dick last time we met” Harry apologised quietly, but Niall just grinned.

“We’re all allowed to be a dick sometimes. I’ve lived with Louis for a year, I can handle you” Niall told him, receiving a glare from Louis. “Anyway, I’m gonna go to my room, give you two some privacy.” He winked obnoxiously, and Louis gave him the finger. 

Harry looked on amusedly, but once it was just he and Louis his nerves seemed to return. “So, we needed to talk?” he asked unsurely.

Louis sighed. “Yeah. Look, I still feel like I used to. I want to be in a relationship with you, I really do.”

“But?” Harry asked sadly, sensing there was more to come.

“I don’t know if it could possibly work. There’s a chance that I could get ill again. And I don’t know if I could go without your support this time. Because you might be on tour, or away somewhere, doing whatever it is you do. I don’t know if you’d be able to be there for me. It’s not your fault, just the nature of your career I guess. And it’s not the nicest for   
the people around me when I’m ill, it might be weird for you.”

“We could get over that Louis. I’d like to give us a go. I have a couple of months break before I have to record my new album and most of that’s done in London, so I could come down here most of the time, or you come to my London flat with me. Then I won’t be touring for quite a while, and even if I was I’d still make time for you, I promise. If you got ill again, I’d cancel my shows, I don’t care if my management would drop me. You’re more important.”

“It’s not just that though Haz. You haven’t even come out as gay, or bisexual, or whatever you are, have you?” Louis looked at him accusingly. 

“I’m pansexual actually. And no, my management said it wasn’t a good idea. But I could talk them around, anything for you. When my new album’s released, I have a load of interviews. If we give it a go, and we work, which I honestly believe we will, then I could come out then, even tell people you’re my boyfriend. Although I wouldn’t want people to send you hate” Harry rambled.

“Okay, okay” Louis smiled at his earnestness. “It seems stupid not to, so, yeah, I’ll give it a go. If you want me, I’ll be your boyfriend.”

“I would love you to be my boyfriend.”

Harry leaned in and kissed him, and it was like their first kiss all over again. Except for the fact that this time they weren’t pushed into a corner, surrounded by people at Louis’ birthday party. It was just them. The kiss was sweet and gentle, Harry’s hands finding Louis’ waist and Louis’ hand resting delicately on Harry’s neck. 

*

Niall was out so Harry was around their flat, sat at Louis’ desk trying and failing to write a song.

“I hate writer’s block” he complained.

“Come here and kiss me then” Louis called from his place on the bed.

“That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea” Harry replied.

He joined Louis on the bed, pulling him on top of him and joining their lips together. Pretty soon the kiss got heated and Louis found himself unbuttoning Harry’s shirt, pushing it off his shoulders. Harry removed Louis’ own, and then his hand trailed down to toy with the hem of Louis’ sweats.

“Are you sure you want this?” Harry asked, knowing that this was Louis’ first time.

“Yes” Louis whispered against his lips, unbuttoning Harry’s jeans to prove his point. 

Harry pulled down Louis’ sweats and then lifted his hips, Louis ridding him of his jeans and boxers in one swift movement.

Harry shifted their position and shimmied down between Louis’ legs, mouthing at Louis’ dick through the thin material of his boxers, wetting the fabric as he licked and sucked at it. Louis’ dick was already half hard, and he felt it grow harder at the contact, aching for friction.

He groaned beneath Harry, struggling to keep his hips still. Harry’s large hands delicately moved up his thighs, caressing them gently before moving past his boxers to trace patterns over the sensitive skin of Louis’ hips. Louis let out a shuddering sigh and Harry toyed with the hem before pushing his boxers down, Louis’ cock laying hard and heavy on his stomach when it was released.

Harry reached over to grab the lube and condom Louis had bought just in case (it never hurt to be prepared) from the dresser. Harry slicked up two fingers with lube, tracing Louis’ entrance and looking into his eyes as he entered the first one. Louis bit down on his own lip; the intrusion felt weird, but a good weird, and he soon grew accustomed to it. Harry entered a second finger without hesitation, curling them and eliciting shivers from Louis. 

Louis felt heat curling in his stomach already, and Harry seemed to be in a similar position, quickly withdrawing his fingers and wiping them on the sheets. He tore open the condom, rolling it on to his throbbing dick and applying lube once again. 

He stroked Louis’ face lovingly with one hand, gently pushing his beanie back and off and kissing his forehead. He peppered kisses along Louis’ jawline before kissing his lips, biting down softly as Louis felt the blunt tip of his dick press up against his hole. He moaned into Harry’s mouth and Harry slid in slowly and cautiously.

Louis closed his eyes, feeling himself coming undone slowly from the sensation of being filled by Harry. Harry waited a second before he began to move, making sure to keep his thrusts slow and steady, wanting to be gentle with Louis. He felt an instinctive protectiveness for him, even though Louis was older, and didn’t want to hurt him in any way.

He sped up gradually, but the pace remained unhurried, Harry pressing numerous kisses to Louis’ lips and stroking his silky hair with one hand. Louis’ nails scratched down Harry’s back, breathing shallow.

Harry thrust in hard, hearing Louis yelp a curse as he hit his prostate, body jolting beneath him. Louis fastened his lips to Harry’s neck, sucking a deep love bite as Harry’s thrusts grew messier, continuing at the same angle to hit Louis’ prostate.

Heat coiled in Louis’ stomach, his toes clenched and he saw sparks of white hot desire behind his eyelids as he came between he and Harry’s chests, sticky liquid decorating their stomachs. Harry thrusted in a couple more times before he too was coming. Louis held him through his orgasm, whimpering when Harry pulled out before his cock got overly sensitive.

Louis cuddled up to his chest, not bothering to clean up, although he knew it would be a right mess in the morning. Harry held him close, stroking his head until he fell asleep.

*

Louis and Harry had been dating for about six months, and Harry had managed to write and release his second album. Louis had bought it, plus several merchandise items to show support for his boyfriend. Harry found the whole thing amusing, if a little disturbing when he came home to find his boyfriend sitting on the sofa wearing a t-shirt with a giant picture of his face on.

Today was Harry’s first interview to promote his album, and he’d managed to strike a bargain with his management so that he could come out publicly.

He’d reluctantly agreed to name Louis as his boyfriend, although he didn’t want to. He was worried about Louis receiving hate from jealous fans and being stalked. However Louis had been insistent, stating that he wanted people to know that Harry was his. Harry was stubborn at first, but Louis managed to talk him around. He’d known he could convince him eventually.

Louis had come along to the set to watch Harry from the side, wanting to personally see the moment when Harry named Louis as his.

Harry had been on for about fifteen minutes, the interviewer talking about trivial things like his new album, the slight change in genre, what the fans thought, when he’d be making a new music video, talks about his upcoming book. Harry answered all the questions in detail, taking longer than necessary because of him talking so slowly (Louis found the speed of his speech adorable, naturally).

As she’d been instructed to, the interviewer swiftly moved on to questions about Harry’s love life. She’d been informed that this interview was the first one in which Harry would reveal his sexuality and was very excited to have got the job.

“So have you got a special lady in your life Harry?”

“Well, not a special lady, but if what you’re getting at is am I single, then no, I’m in a happy relationship.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re in a relationship with a boy?”

Harry remained calm as he answered. “Yes, I’m dating a bloke. I’ve known him for years and he’s the bravest, most fantastic person I’ve met. I love him so much and I hope he knows that. I’m very lucky to have him.”

“And do we know him?”

“He’s not a celebrity, no. His name’s Louis and he’s actually here right now, watching me in the studio.”

“Bring him out then! If that’s okay with you both of course.”

Harry had to admire her daring, intent on getting all the exclusives she could into one interview. He exchanged a glance with Louis, who looked worried, but began walking out anyway. He subconsciously pulled his beanie further down onto his head and smoothed out his clothes.

Harry held out a hand and Louis took it as he joined him on the chair. There wasn’t much space, so Louis sat on his lap, not caring that they were in public.

“Well Harry I can see you’re very well matched in the looks department.”

Both boys blushed at her compliment. “It’s not all about looks, I think people underestimate Harry’s personality” Louis murmured, nervous about speaking on TV for the first time.  
Harry commented, complimenting Louis in return, and the interviewer asked the both of them a few more questions before Louis returned backstage so Harry could wrap up the interview. He heard Harry say something soppy to the interviewer about how much he loved Louis and smiled. Harry and he were very much back on track now, and there were no more secrets. Despite being so busy, Harry made plenty of time for him and was very much the devoted boyfriend.

*

When the interview was aired, Louis watched it over and over, anxious over every detail. However to his relief, both he and Harry looked fine, and in his opinion they came over as a cute, loved up couple.

For days afterwards, the tabloids and magazines were full of stories about the couple, photos of them from the interview and analyses about their relationship. Obviously there was shock that Harry wasn’t the pencil straight guy everyone had assumed he was, but there wasn’t a lot of homophobia towards them.

Most people said they were adorable and Louis found his followers on Twitter rapidly increasing. Harry showed him some fanpages dedicated entirely to Louis, or to the both of them as a couple, which amused them both.

Louis still went for regular scans, and at the moment the cancer showed no sign of returning. He hadn’t told the public about his cancer as he and Harry wanted some things to remain private. Harry didn’t treat him differently because of the cancer, although he made sure to take care of him. That was one of the things Louis loved about him; he didn’t see Louis differently because he’d had cancer. Some people were unsure how to act; when they saw Louis all they saw was a cancer survivor and treated him based on that. Even Liam, Zayn, Niall and his family babied Louis a bit too much for his liking sometime. But not Harry. He treated Louis the same as always, letting him know that he was there to look after him when required, but also gave him his independence and wasn’t afraid to have play fights with him or be a bit rough. He didn’t treat Louis like he could break if not treated with the utmost care, which Louis appreciated more than Harry knew.

His mum, Liam, Zayn and Niall as well as his other friends were all happy for the couple, although Niall complained about “never being able to get any damn sleep in my own flat anymore”. 

Harry had postponed his tour so he could spend time with Louis, and the two went on regular dates. Louis attended several awards ceremonies with Harry and couldn’t have been prouder when Harry won the majority of the awards he was nominated for.

All in all, Louis’ life hadn’t played out quite how he expected it to. He hadn’t planned to get cancer, or to stop talking to Harry for almost two years. He hadn’t expected Harry to be as famous as he was, or to become famous by association himself. But just because he hadn’t expected it, and had assumed it would be a lot simpler than it was, didn’t mean it was a bad thing. It was pretty perfect, if you asked him.


End file.
